Get Creative Friday — 3 Ways to Build Your Creativity Bank

A few of my strategies for creative inspiration include: collecting, wandering, listening and journaling.

Here’s how they work:

1. Collecting – I collect all creative direct mail, magazine ads, greeting cards, blog posts, and even product packages and keep them in an old Tupperware container. I keep original or scanned copies. I also purge this on a monthly basis and keep the most inspirational ideas.

2. Wandering – I go to the mall, Starbucks, Home Depot, smaller boutique stores, trade shows and when I drive I check out billboards (especially around airports). I wander and observe and make notes and take photos on my smartphone. Photos go in the container and notes are logged into an ideas journal. I recommend using a notes app for your phone that can be synched to your lap or desktop. I use Microsoft Notes.